My days with Akzo !!!

In the end we always remember the beginning.

I vividly remember the day of my summer placement interview with the AkzoNobel’s representative at campus. She had a quick look on my CV, placed it aside, asked me in a comforting tone, “Tell me something you want me to know about you, that is not written here”.

“I can speak Tamil..Naan nalla Tamil pesuven”…

My words were out even before I realized it! Turned out that I was selected.

April 13, 2015

Seniors’ dose of gyan on dos and don’ts , the curiosity of meeting new people, anxiety  of expectations, potential questions and all such thoughts were swarming in my mind like a pack of bees gone haywire, while I was en-route AkzoNobel’s  Gurgaon Office. As my taxi moved on Delhi-Gurgaon highway, I could see the numerous skyscrapers rising from the earth. I wondered which wonderland I was wandering in. And then a left turn brought me to my destination- Buliding 5A, DLF Cybercity. As I entered the office on the twentieth floor, my eyes were wide open in delight, enjoying the sight of red, blue, green, violet, yellow, orange-playing vibrantly in different combinations on walls, glass doors, notice boards, cubicles, cafeteria…everywhere. The Dulux paints productline cans arranged aesthetically, greeted me.

Day 1 ended with knowledge sessions about the processes, businesses of the company. A loud silence ran through the room when the Head of HR, Mr. Gaurav Gupta, addressed twenty of us in a potent voice. His words penetrated deep inside me and I felt a strange happiness and bliss in being associated with Akzo. In the first week, I felt, I was no less than a CEO. I had driver to pick me up and drop at the guest house, comfortable room at guest house, hot-served meals and what not!

I was lucky to have been mentored by Mr. Shantanu Roy, a man with a wide experience across spectrum of industries. I could hardly find any blank cell in his outlook calendar. Despite heavily loaded schedule, he would stay back to listen to me patiently. It was really heartening when Mr. Shantanu and Mr. Atanu Dutta Chaudhary (Talent Acquisition Team) would ask for my opinions on important matters. Though, initially, it was a bit strenuous to catch hold of super busy people in office to gather insights, I realized patience is bitter but it bears sweet fruits. My first board room experience was classic when I was introduced to the entire brigade of HR by the Head of HR. And as if the chance to witness great minds making strategic decisions was not enough, he then asked me what my opinion was!

Initially I started reporting whatever minor progress I was able to visualize in my project (Design and development of tools for optimization of Talent Acquisition Process) to Shantanu and Atanu. After a week, with some imaginary structure, I could show something significant in an excel sheet, which grabbed their attention and mercury level of my motivation rose significantly. I started with one project and eventually the number of deliverables evolved to four. Owing to my Infosys experience and analytics course at SCMHRD, I could plan and visualize my deliverables systematically.

The fun side of my two month stint deserves a mention too, the frequent coffee, TT matches and the chole-kulche-lunch with co-interns. In the evenings, Shantanu offered me his snack Tiffin and I could never say no and would grab the box immediately! I would try hard to resist but the mere sight of homemade snacks would incite tides of saliva inside my mouth. Many more events made my journey worth remembering – environment-day-quiz, Town hall with Global CEO Ton Büchner and employee-of-the-month felicitation ceremony.

June 9th, 2015

Finally the D-day came. I donned my best blue shirt while presenting to the Head of HR. I realized, the fruits of hard work laid not just in the appreciation, but also in all that I had learnt. My insights were valued. I felt summer internship offered me a good chance to hone my skills and explore my varied career interests.

In the end, I would suggest future summer interns to treat internship as an opportunity to learn and network rather than a source of pre-placement opportunity, or else they will not have fun doing it. And who knows, at the end, an offer might come too!